Tag Archives: reflections

Music Monday: Summertime

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Even though the official start of summer is still a week away, summer vacation has officially begun here.  My babies are home with me once again and I couldn’t be happier.

 

Most moms dread the summer months and fill the days with summer camps, but I’m one of those strange, rare moms who soaks up every moment of my kids’ summer vacation and enjoys sharing every summertime experience with them.

 

I love the lazy summer days where our schedule is set by simply whatever my girls wake up and want to do that day.  Of course, to help facilitate our fun in the sun days, I compiled a list of things I ambitiously vow to do this summer and I am excited to start checking off each activity.

 

Oh sure, there are days when my kids drive me crazy and I’m ready to pull my hair out, but since baseball caps and other sun hats are part of my summertime ensemble, they cleverly hide the gray and bald spots while protecting me from all the sun exposure.  Besides, my babies are only home two for months and I’ll have ten months to grow the hair back.

 

Like a twinkle in an eye, two months will fly by so quickly but I’m so grateful to have the time with my girls.

 

 

Summer summer summertime
Time to sit back and unwind.

 

 

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30 Things I Vow to Do This Summer

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Well before the start of summer vacation, I have been experiencing a ton of mama guilt.  With a new baby arriving right smack in the middle of summer, I worry that I won’t be able to truly enjoy summer vacation with my girls.  The size of my bump and my waddle restricts my activity level, but once the baby arrives, he’ll be constantly tethered to my boobs which will also limit my level of activity.

Therefore, I’ve vow to make the most of our summer before school starts up again and I’ve got a list to help make it all happen.

  1. Soak up every ounce of our beautiful white Gulf beaches before the oil arrives.

     

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  2. Set up a chore system for the girls.  I’m not sure how to go about this just yet, but I know it needs to be done before the baby arrives.
  3. Read a classic.  For myself, I’ve dog-eared A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I’ll read The Phantom Tollbooth and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH to the girls.
  4. Set aside time to read each day.
  5. Prepare small home school lessons each day so my children’s brains don’t turn to mush.
  6. Limit our TV watching.
  7. Plan a Friday night bedtime movie so I can cuddle with my girls in bed.
  8. Get good use out of our Busch Gardens passes.

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    Splash around at any and all of our spray grounds.

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  10. Plan a trip to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center.
  11. Participate in a beach cleanup.  We’ve been watching and waiting for the oil to arrive.  When it does, we are ready to do our part to help protect our beaches.
  12. Enjoy plenty of play dates with our friends.
  13. See at least one free summer movie each week.
  14. Visit Nanny’s Educational Zoo.

     

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  15. Spend plenty of time swimming, because selfishly it does wonders for my sciatica.

     

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  16. Brooker Creek Preserve or Weedon Island to play in the hands-on center and enjoy story time.
  17. Catch a Rays or Threshers baseball game for family fun day and fireworks.

     

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  18. Build a rain gauge.
  19. Participate in the various summer reading programs through our local library, Barnes & Nobles and Borders.
  20. Tours, tours and more tours because we love them and they are a great way to avoid the heat while catching a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite places to eat and play.
  21. Visit an art museum or two.
  22. Visit Museum of Science and Industry and/or Great Explorations
  23. Make a Father’s Day gift for Daddy.
  24. Do lots of crafts and attempt some art projects.
  25. Garden with the girls.
  26. Release ladybugs in our garden.

     

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  27. Try our hand at some science experiments.
  28. Take advantage of the Sea World Cares program to visit Sea World and only pay $5 per child.

     

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  29. Go canoeing with Dad’s help, of course.

     

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  30. Cherish every moment with my girls and tell them I love them every day.

 

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Juneathon, Day 9

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I’m not sure, but I think Run DMT Baby #3 may have changed positions and slid into a head down position because swimming was very challenging today.  Usually, swimming brings me a much welcomed relief, but I didn’t get that wonderful feeling of weightlessness today.  Instead, the baby felt very low and I struggled trying to swim a few laps.  But I did it!  Phew!

 

After swimming, I did some bicep and tricep curls.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I been doing a lot of weight training lately.  See, my family and I have a maternity portrait sitting with my good friend and fabulous photographer, Kelly, this weekend and I thought it would be nice to have some sort of arm muscle in the photos rather than flabby, fat chicken wings flapping in the wind.  But who am I kidding?  In the photos, all you’re going to notice is the massive bump and not the “muscle” I worked so hard tried so desperately to sculpt.  Can’t blame a mama for trying, right?

Juneathon, Day 7 & 8

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By committing to the Juneathon, I agreed to participate and post my activity every day. Well, I am most definitely participating every day but sometimes living my glamorous life of a SAHM prevents me from posting every day. Oh yeah, it’s glamorous life all right. My fans (a.k.a my children) circle around my ankles continuously, especially with my youngest home now and my oldest daughter can’t seem to shake this strep throat funk that she caught a couple of weeks ago.

 

Mommy…Mommy….Mommy…Mommy….Mommy!

 

AGHHHHHH!

 

WHAT?! Can’t you see I’m trying to find my center? Now let Mommy “Om” in peace, PLEASE!

 

So things with my family have certainly kept me on my toes and I’ve been running around like a madwoman over the past couple of days. Although I barely fit yoga in my already stretched life, I managed to find center on Day 7 & 8 with the help of these videos I found on You Tube. The best part is I can stream these videos into the living room from our Sony TV. How’s that for finding center?

 

 

 

 

 

Juneathon, Day 6

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Boy, yesterday’s sunrise special endorphin rush was shorted lived because today I could barely roll out of bed. However for the purpose of Juneathon and for the sake of my aching sciatica, I did 50 squats and 30 minutes of prenatal yoga. I also threw in some kegel exercises for good measure. Does that count?

Juneathon, Day 5

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Crazy thing happened this morning.  I woke up around 6:30 and had this incredible urge to go for walk at sunrise.  For months, I have found it difficult to do anything in the early morning hours.  Since becoming pregnant, my sleeping patterns have been so erratic.  I wake up around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., lie awake for a couple of few hours and eventually fall back to asleep just before my children wake up.

 

But not this morning!  This morning, I jumped out of bed and went for 30 minute walk (about 1.5 miles).  Physically, it felt good to move, but watching the sunrise was so great for my spirit.  Its warm happy glow greeted me like an old friend and I felt like I was smiling all the way down to my running shoes.   Sure the humid air was heavy and thick, but it didn’t bother me one bit.  I think my body craved it like a alcoholic craves a drink.  So, I took a long swig of that sunrise and enjoyed every minute that I walked on sunshine.

 

 

When I got home, I cooled down in the a/c with 50 squats and some bicep and tricep curls.

Juneathon, Day 4

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Hey, Mrs. Grump Gills. When a big ol’ baby bump gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming…just keep swimming…just keep swimming…swimming…swimming…What do we do? We swim…swim. I love to swim.

 

 

No earworm advice could be better for my sciatica pain. For Day 4 of the Juneathon, I just kept swimming.

 

Emmalynn and I were invited to a pool party today to celebrate a friend’s birthday and I took full advantage of the pool.  Since I had to navigate through super soakers, children cannonballing on top of me and my daughter pulling down my bottoms to help her win our race, it was quite work-out and not as an uplifting experience I had hoped it to be.  Despite all the obstacles, I managed to swim quite a few laps and my back thanked with little pain for the rest of the day.

Juneathon, Day 2

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Not only is today Day 2 of the Juneathon, but it is also National Running Day. *sigh* How I wish I could honor the day with a good run! Heck, even a good wog would have been nice.  Oh well.  So rather than a run, I simply walked (more like waddled) for 20 minutes.  I also did 50 squats and 30 push-ups.

 

On a side note, I also had my 32 week OB visit today.  I gained 6 pounds since my last appointment four weeks ago. UGH! I’m also measuring at 34 weeks.  Double grunt! Plus, they detected sugar in my urine.  O.K. so it might have had something to do with the super size bowl of Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch and large helping of watermelon I ate for breakfast this morning and maybe even the volume of ice cream I ate over Memorial Day weekend or the several refills of Slushies I shared with my 4 year old yesterday at Target.  But I swear, for the most part, I’m being so good. Looks like it’s Kashi for the remainder of my pregnancy.  Blah. It’s going to be a long, not-so-sweet summer.

Joining the Juneathon

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Today kicked off the official start of the Juneathon and I did my best to join in the fun.  After all, I’ve got my eyes on the prize:  a pair of Vibram Five Fingers Classics.

 

Although my wogging days have been temporarily postponed until my postpartum days, I chose to ease into the Juneathon with 20 minutes of prenatal yoga and weight training.  This big ol’ bump may keep me from wogging, but it can’t keep me from a few biceps and tricep curls.  I also threw in some squats and lunges in for good measure.

 

If you missed joining the Juneathon today, there’s always tomorrow.  In fact, tomorrow (June 2) is National Running Day, so get out there and run for me or run with virtual Run DMT.